This invention relates generally to gage calibration and, more specifically, to improved gage calibration.
In many large scale manufacturing environments there may exist thousands of measurement and test equipment items (MTandE) in active service, including thousands of gages. All gages used in production must be periodically calibrated to verify they are maintained within tolerance to ensure the quality of the products they are used to produce. Typically, gage calibration or certification occurs at a central metrology lab. When gages are due for calibration, mechanics must submit gages to a nearby tool crib. Metrology picks up gages from each tool crib periodically for transport to their lab. Typically, the lab will stockpile gages until an adequate number of units are in inventory to be cost-effectively calibrated. After calibration, the gages are transported by metrology back to the tool cribs. This process includes excessive cycle time and labor time, and excess inventory is required to support loss of gage use.
Therefore, there exists an unmet need to develop a shop-floor gage calibration or certification system for quickly and easily re-certifying gages.
The present invention is a system and method for improving gage calibration in a manufacturing environment. The system includes a gage calibration apparatus that provides remote gage calibration. The apparatus includes a gage measuring apparatus, a processor, a user interface, a scanner, and a printer. The gage measuring apparatus receives a gage and generates measurement information of the received gage. The processor is electrically coupled to the gage measuring apparatus and includes a communication component for communicating with a remotely located metrology system, and a component for determining calibration status of the gage by comparing generated measurement information to predefined gage calibration information. The user interface presents the determined calibration status. The scanner scans a tag previously affixed to the gage for information pertaining to the gage and sends the gage information to the processor. The printer prints a label based on the determined calibration status and the communication component
In one aspect of the invention, the communication component communicates wirelessly with the metrology system over a data network.
In another aspect of the invention, the processor transmits the scanned information to the metrology system via the communication component and the metrology system identifies predefined gage calibration information based on the scanned information and transmits the identified predefined gage calibration information to the processor.
In still another aspect of the invention, a mobile cart supports the gage measuring apparatus.